Cover of The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs

The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs

by Denise Brodey · 2007

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Candid, passionate, personal, and heartbreakingly funny, a view from within the whirlwind of parenting a child with special needs When then-magazine editor Denise Brodey's precocious four-year-old son was diagnosed with a combination of sensory integration dysfunction and childhood depression, she was desperate to talk to people who understood his diagnosis. As she struggled to make sense of her new, often chaotic, often lonely world, what she found comforted her "most" was talking with other harried, hopeful, and insightful parents of kids with special needs, learning how they coped with the feelings they encountered throughout the day.

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In "The Elephant in the Playroom," moms and dads write intimately and honestly about the joyful highs and disordered lows of raising children who are ?not quite normal.? Laying bare the emotional, medical, and social challenges they face, their stories address issues ranging from if and when to medicate a child, to how to get a child who is overly sensitive to the texture of food to eat lunch. Eloquent and honest, the voices in this collection will provide solace and support for the millions of parents whose kids struggle with #ADHD, #sensory disorders, childhood #depression, Asperger's syndrome, and autism?as well as the many kids who fall between diagnoses.

Offering readers comfort, community, and much-needed perspective, "The Elephant in the Playroom" has become essential reading for parents of special needs kids.

Subject
educationeducationMore like thisLess of thispsychologypsychologyMore like thisLess of this
Themes
parentingparentingMore like thisLess of thisdisabilitydisabilityMore like thisLess of thisfamilyfamilyMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 256 pages
Form
essaysessaysMore like thisLess of this

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Liked The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities · 2009 Shares parenting, nonfiction, autism
  2. The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder Carol Stock Kranowitz · 1900 Shares parenting, autism, nonfiction
  3. Sensational Kids: Hope and Help for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder Lucy Jane Miller, Doris A. Fuller · 2006 Shares parenting, autism, nonfiction
  4. Shut Up About...Your Perfect Kid! Gina Gallagher, Patricia Konjoian · 2007 Shares parenting, nonfiction, autism
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“People who read The Elephant in the Playroom: Ordinary Parents Write Intimately and Honestly About the Extraordinary Highs and Heartbreaking Lows of Raising Kids with Special Needs tend to reach for these next.”

  1. George and Sam Charlotte Moore · 2004
  2. Engaging Autism: Helping Children Relate, Communicate and Think with the DIR Floortime Approach (A Merloyd Lawrence Book) Stanley I. Greenspan, Serena Wieder · 2006
  3. 1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Lifesaver for Parents and Professionals Who Interact Children with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome Ellen Notbohm, Veronica Zysk · 2004
  4. Making Peace with Autism: One Family's Story of Struggle, Discovery, and Unexpected Gifts Susan Senator · 2005

“If you want more of the same (education about parenting), start with these.”

  1. Raising Blaze : Bringing Up an Extraordinary Son in an Ordinary World Debra Ginsberg · 2002
  2. Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism Diane M. Kennedy, Rebecca S. Banks, Temple Grandin · 2011
  3. When I First Held You: 22 Critically Acclaimed Writers Talk About the Triumphs, Challenges, and Transfo rmative Experience of Fatherhood · 2014
  4. Sensory Integration and the Child A. Jean Ayres · 1979

“If it was the parenting that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. More Than a Mom: Living a Full and Balanced Life When Your Child Has Special Needs Amy Baskin, Heather Fawcett · 2006
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  3. What to Do about Your Brain-Injured Child: Or Your Brain-Damaged, Mentally Retarded, Mentally Deficient, Cerebral-Palsied, Epileptic, Autistic, Athetoid, Hyperactive, Attention Deficit Disordered, Developmentally Delayed, Down's Child Glenn Doman · 1974
  4. No More Meltdowns: Positive Strategies for Dealing with and Preventing Out-Of-Control Behavior Jed Baker, Carol Stock Kranowitz · 2008

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Sensory Child Gets Organized: Proven Systems for Rigid, Anxious, or Distracted Kids Carolyn Dalgliesh · 2013
  2. The Everything Parent's Guide To Sensory Integration Disorder Terri Mauro, Sharon A. Cermak · 2006
  3. The Oasis Guide to Asperger Syndrome: Advice, Support, Insight, and Inspiration Patricia Romanowski Bashe, Barbara L. Kirby · 2001
  4. Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with SensoryIntegration Issues Lindsey Biel, Nancy Peske · 2005

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